Photo: Verne Equinox · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Windsor records more crime than two in three Canadian towns
Weighted by seriousness, its crime scores 78.5 on the index for 2023–2025, beside 66 for the typical Canadian town its size. The yearly rates were 18.4 violent incidents and 32.8 incidents of property crime per 1,000 residents, set against 12.0 and 30.5 in the typical town its size. Its Safety Grade is C+, on crime the police covering Windsor reported from 2023 to 2025: #62 of 88 in Nova Scotia.
Statistics Canada, police-reported crime, 2023–2025 means. The index weighs each crime by its seriousness; rates are incidents per 1,000 residents a year.
What stands out about safety in Windsor
Mischief: high for a town its size
Windsor records 10.7 incidents of mischief per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the typical town among Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. By type ↓
Rising since 2023
In 2023 the index in Windsor stood at 67, by 2025 at 79. Over the same years the typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 to 60. Year by year ↓
Higher than many towns its size
Of the 40 Canadian towns nearest it in size, Windsor places 26th from the lowest index. Towns its size ↓
About the Nova Scotia norm
Windsor’s index of 78.5 compares with 71.4 for the typical town in Nova Scotia. Towns its size ↓
Written from Statistics Canada’s police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025. Figures are what police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Windsor’s C+
The grade weighs the Crime Severity Index and its violent half, averaged over 2023–2025, against every Canadian town and city neighbourhood of 1,000 people or more.
Its place: #62 of 88 in Nova Scotia and #1,604 of 2,572 Canadian towns.
The Crime Severity Index and its two halves, beside the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Windsor’s crime by kind
Against the typical town its size, Windsor runs highest on mischief (10.7 per 1,000 against 3.7), drug offences (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.8) and sexual assault (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.8).
Every Statistics Canada violation line
| Violation | Incidents a year | Per 1,000 | Cleared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 0.3 | 0.02 | — |
| Sexual violations against children | 7.7 | 0.4 | 52% |
| Assaults against a peace officer | 5.3 | 0.3 | 94% |
| Firearms: use, discharge, pointing | 1.3 | 0.07 | — |
| Robbery | 1.7 | 0.08 | — |
| Forcible confinement or kidnapping | 2.7 | 0.1 | — |
| Other violent violations | 7.7 | 0.4 | 39% |
| Breaking and entering | 56.3 | 2.8 | 15% |
| Possession of stolen property | 12.7 | 0.6 | 39% |
| Theft of a motor vehicle | 48.3 | 2.4 | 8% |
| Theft over $5,000 | 14 | 0.7 | 12% |
| Theft under $5,000 | 210.3 | 10.4 | 19% |
| Mischief | 216.3 | 10.7 | 12% |
| Weapons violations | 11.7 | 0.6 | 43% |
| Administration of justice violations | 114 | 5.6 | 72% |
| Other Criminal Code violations | 26.7 | 1.3 | 26% |
| Drug violations | 25.7 | 1.3 | 19% |
| Impaired driving | 84.3 | 4.2 | 45% |
| Failing to stop or remain | 1.3 | 0.07 | — |
Statistics Canada’s violation groups for the whole police service or detachment, incidents a year its own. Cleared: incidents solved by a charge or otherwise, as a share of those reported.
Incidents per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025 means, against the typical figure for Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Windsor’s index rose 18% from 2023 to 2025
Crime Severity Index
At 89.5, 2024 topped the three years, and 2023 was lowest at 67. The typical Canadian town its size went from 69.5 in 2023 to 60 in 2025.
Every year as a table
| Year | Windsor | Typical town its size |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 79 | 60 |
| 2024 | 89.5 | 67.9 |
| 2023 | 67 | 69.5 |
Statistics Canada, Crime Severity Index by police service, each year as published. Typical: the median of Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The Crime Severity Index of the police covering Windsor, each year, against the typical Canadian town its size.
Windsor is 26th of 40 towns its size, lowest index first
| # | Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quispamsis New Brunswick | 20,240 | 20 | 27.9 | A+ |
| … | |||||
| 23 | Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures Quebec | 20,864 | 63 | 89.4 | B− |
| 24 | Baie-Comeau Quebec | 20,660 | 70 | 134 | C+ |
| 25 | Colchester County, Subdivision B Nova Scotia | 21,578 | 72.9 | 100.8 | C+ |
| 26 | Windsor Nova Scotia | 20,318 | 78.5 | 98.5 | C+ |
| 27 | Dorval Quebec | 21,062 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 28 | Westmount Quebec | 20,377 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| 29 | Kirkland Quebec | 19,696 | 80.3 | 115.7 | C |
| … | |||||
| 40 | Lloydminster (Part) Alberta | 21,267 | 211.6 | 177.2 | D |
The 40 Canadian towns of 2,500+ people closest in population; city neighbourhoods, city totals and reserves are left out. Towns on one police service or detachment share its index.
The Canadian towns closest to Windsor in population, the lowest Crime Severity Index first (2023–2025 means).
Windsor’s police: about 370 violent incidents a year over 2023–2025
Violent incidents per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Property crimes per 1,000 a year, 2023–2025
Statistics Canada counts actual incidents; those police record as unfounded are listed apart and kept out of its crime rates and severity index. Each incident is filed under its most serious violation, which the survey sets partly by the maximum penalty.
Add about 670 property crimes and 390 other violations a year (2023–2025 average). The grid is 1,000 residents, a coloured dot for each incident a year at these rates.
Crime in the places around Windsor
| Town | People | Severity index | Violent index | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windsor | 20,318 | 78.5 | 98.5 | C+ |
| Kings County, Subdivision D (18 km) | 6,517 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| Wolfville (21 km) | 5,587 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| Kings County, Subdivision C (29 km) | 8,994 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
| Kings County, Subdivision B (30 km) | 12,661 | 72.3 | 91.5 | C+ |
The places around Windsor all score lower on the index. The nearest of them, Kings County, Subdivision D (18.3 km away), scores 72.3 against 78.5.
Each place’s police figures, 2023–2025 means. Windsor has few close neighbours with figures, so the list reaches 18–30 km out.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- 100 is Canada in 2006. Figures are relative to one fixed point, Canada in 2006 at 100, rather than to this year’s national number.
- Cleared, not convicted. A cleared case is one police consider solved. Whether anyone is convicted is a separate matter the rate doesn’t follow.
- What the index measures. The Crime Severity Index adds up police-reported crime, each kind weighted by the sentences courts give it, so one robbery counts for more than many thefts. In Statistics Canada’s words, “The CSI is not an indicator of overall safety and should be interpreted in the broader community context.”
Questions about safety in Windsor
Is Windsor safe?
Windsor’s Crime Severity Index is 78.5 (2023–2025 mean); its police record 18.4 violent incidents and 32.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Across Canadian towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, the median is 66.
What is the most common crime in Windsor?
Other Criminal Code offences is the most common, at 12.3 per 1,000 residents a year, then mischief (10.7) and theft under $5,000 (10.4).
Is crime going up in Windsor?
Up 18%: 67 in 2023, 79 in 2025.
How much of Windsor’s crime do police solve?
33%, by the weighted clearance rate, where the typical Canadian town its size manages 33%. Violent crime is cleared at 56% and non-violent crime at 20%.
Whose figures are these?
They are Windsor’s own: its police cover the town and no other.
Source: Statistics Canada, police-reported crime by police service and detachment, 2023–2025 (Statistics Canada Open Licence); TownRatings calculation.
Sources: Statistics Canada, Crime severity index and weighted clearance rates, police services (tables 35-10-0186 to 0190, 0061, 0063, 0064), 2023–2025 · Statistics Canada, Incident-based crime statistics by detailed violations, police services (35-10-0178 to 0185) · Safety Grade: TownRatings calculation. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).